I need advice...please help if you can.

I need advice on how to get a breastfed baby to take a bottle. I go back to work Friday. Baby will be 6 weeks old. I am super worried about it. I have never went back to work this soon. he is breastfed and while we've given him bottles to try and keep him used to them he will only take it if he's starving and will only take an once then start crying again until he gets the breast. I cry every time i think about leaving him for 11hrs straight. My SO (significant other) can barely handle watching him for 3 hours while i go shopping because he crys and won't eat. I will be pumping for him while i am at work...but i am so worried he won't take a bottle and will cry not stop. I am worried his grandmas aren't gonna be able to handle it. Financially i have to go back to work. I just don't know how to make this process easier for baby. My SO (significant other) thinks i need to stop breastfeeding him so he will have to accept the bottle. This idea is heartbreaking to me. I love the bonding of breastfeeding. Baby loves it. I am not ready to give it up. This is my last baby. Does anyone have any advice on how to get him to take a bottle? I just can't see cutting him of the breast all together as the only way to get him to take a bottle without him fussing for the breast.

Comments (12)

What bottles have you tried? You might have to go through a few to see what he likes. The thought of it also makes me sad so I'll only pump for when I absolutely need bottles. I hate Monday morning meetings.

We went through a 'bottle regression' around 5 weeks and I was panicked too. Bought every bottle type at the store to see if she liked any better. She did end up eating from the MAM ones, but after a glitch this morning, I had to offer her a dr browns (the original bottles we had) and she took it just fine and took it fine at bed tonight. Could just be the 5 wk wonder week that has LO (little one) upset. We are 6.5 wks and she is doing just fine again.

We went through this with our last lo. It took time and determination. She refused bottles for awhile.
I think I worked about 10-15 days before she finally took them successfully. Prior it was a lot of marathon feeding at night-and crying during the day
I worked 12 hour shifts too.

First-
If using frozen milk make sure high lipase is not an issue. Milk will smell/taste salty/metallic. If that is the issue scald prior to freezing.
Kellymom.com can help

Try different bottles.
Our daycare swore by comotomo bottles. We went through about 10 different bottles before she settled on tommee tippee.

Daycare also suggested feeding them in a bouncer with you behind them, being held babe was looking for boob.

Your SO (significant other) will need to learn to handle it. Lo's sense stress and can be reacting to that.
I worked weekends and DH (dear husband) was on his own for 13+ hours a day with a screaming babe

Don't give up something you love. No lie it's rough but once they figure it out its worth it. Good luck

A friend of mine had the same issue and her led told her to Try giving the bottle at night while lo is still partially asleep. In theory he won't be aware enough to realize the difference in feel of the bottle and will focus instead on getting fed. If you work on that for a few nights lo will get used to the feel and then hopefully start accepting the bottle during the day as well.

What bottles have you tried? You might have to go through a few to see what h...

Posted
11/27/2016

What bottles have you tried? You might have to go through a few to see what he likes. The thought of it also makes me sad so I'll only pump for when I absolutely need bottles. I hate Monday morning meetings.

I have only tried the gerber ones and the disposable latex ones that come with those ready to feed bottles. He hated the silicone one and does a little better with the latex ones.

We went through a 'bottle regression' around 5 weeks and I was panick...

Posted
11/27/2016

We went through a 'bottle regression' around 5 weeks and I was panicked too. Bought every bottle type at the store to see if she liked any better. She did end up eating from the MAM ones, but after a glitch this morning, I had to offer her a dr browns (the original bottles we had) and she took it just fine and took it fine at bed tonight. Could just be the 5 wk wonder week that has LO upset. We are 6.5 wks and she is doing just fine again.

My low is 5 weeks. He was doing better with the bottle before and then in the last week he just got to where he won't latch on it at all. Hopefully he gets over it in a week like your Lo.

We went through a 'bottle regression' around 5 weeks and I was panick...

Posted
11/27/2016

We went through a 'bottle regression' around 5 weeks and I was panicked too. Bought every bottle type at the store to see if she liked any better. She did end up eating from the MAM ones, but after a glitch this morning, I had to offer her a dr browns (the original bottles we had) and she took it just fine and took it fine at bed tonight. Could just be the 5 wk wonder week that has LO upset. We are 6.5 wks and she is doing just fine again.

My low is 5 weeks. He was doing better with the bottle before and then in the last week he just got to where he won't latch on it at all. Hopefully he gets over it in a week like your Lo.

We went through this with our last lo. It took time and determination. She re...

Last edited
11/27/2016

We went through this with our last lo. It took time and determination. She refused bottles for awhile.
I think I worked about 10-15 days before she finally took them successfully. Prior it was a lot of marathon feeding at night-and crying during the day
I worked 12 hour shifts too.

First-
If using frozen milk make sure high lipase is not an issue. Milk will smell/taste salty/metallic. If that is the issue scald prior to freezing.
Kellymom.com can help

Try different bottles.
Our daycare swore by comotomo bottles. We went through about 10 different bottles before she settled on tommee tippee.

Daycare also suggested feeding them in a bouncer with you behind them, being held babe was looking for boob.

Your SO will need to learn to handle it. Lo's sense stress and can be reacting to that.
I worked weekends and DH was on his own for 13+ hours a day with a screaming babe

Don't give up something you love. No lie it's rough but once they figure it out its worth it. Good luck

Thank you for the advice i hadn't heard of high lipase before. I looked it up i don't think that's it because so far i have been giving him freshly pumped milk. I will try out those bottles. I had looked at the Tommy tippy ones because the nipple on them looks more like a real nipple.

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